Pierre Gasly: “Things are progressively going in a better direction”

Pierre Gasly admits to being excited ahead of his fourth race weekend with Red Bull Racing, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix around the Baku City Circuit, and he hopes for a much more competitive weekend than he’s had so far in 2019.

The Frenchman has scored points in the last two races with his new team but has yet to be a true factor at the front of the field, particularly in relation to his team-mate Max Verstappen, who has outscored him by thirty-nine points to thirteen so far.

Gasly is preparing himself for the second street race of the season – the opening race of the year was held at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia – and he believes the longest straight on the calendar can make the racing an exciting affair.

“I’m always excited for a race weekend and I’m looking forward to this fourth one of the season as we head back to Europe,” said Gasly. “I’m really excited because Baku is a street track which is always more challenging as there’s a lot less margin for error, and this gives you more adrenaline which is a positive for us racing drivers.

“The track is really cool and quite technical from one corner to another. It has the longest straight of the season with a lot of opportunities to overtake, which makes the racing super exciting on Sunday.”

Gasly looks fondly back at his stint in what was then the GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2) where he fought with current Alfa Romeo Racing driver and then Prema Racing team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi for the victory in Baku despite starting at the back of the field.

“When I raced in Formula 2, I started the race in Baku from last and had a good fight with Giovinazzi in the last couple of laps to finish P2,” said the Frenchman.

Gasly set the fastest lap of the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks ago and he hopes that the weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit was a turning point for him after a difficult opening couple of rounds with his new team.

“Things are progressively going in a better direction and it was good to get the fastest lap in China, so let’s see what we can do next weekend,” commented Gasly.